2 questions about ethereal items

[harbinger_00]

Someone told me that upgrading an ethereal item (unique or rare) causes it to lose the bonus it gains from being ethereal. Is that true at all?

Also, do ethereal weapons with defense on them get a bonus in the defensive stat as well, or is it just the damage that's improved?

[GenXCub]

That's true for Armor, but weapons upgrade correctly.

With armor, you get the defense rating of a non-ethereal version of the upgraded armor... that's the bug

[xOSERx]

with weapons, like Swordguard, that have +def bonuses, the defense isn't affected by it being ethereal, just the offense.

-Oser

[Uhgii]

Also, do ethereal weapons with defense on them get a bonus in the defensive stat as well, or is it just the damage that's improved?

When upgraded, simply, the base item is moved from normal to exceptional, or exceptional to elite... so the damage is the only thing that would improve on the weapon... no other stat would improve. It's merely the %ED enhancing a higher base damage, yielding higher damage overall.